title: Control of protein splicing by intein fragment reassembly.
abstract: Inteins are protein splicing elements that mediate their excision from precursor proteins and the joining of the flanking protein sequences (exteins). In this study, protein splicing was controlled by splitting precursor proteins within the Psp Pol-1 intein and expressing the resultant fragments in separate hosts. Reconstitution of an active intein was achieved by in vitro assembly of precursor fragments. Both splicing and intein endonuclease activity were restored. Complementary fragments from two of the three fragmentation positions tested were able to splice in vitro. Fragments resulting in redundant overlaps of intein sequences or containing affinity tags at the fragmentation sites were able to splice. Fragment pairs resulting in a gap in the intein sequence failed to splice or cleave. However, similar deletions in unfragmented precursors also failed to splice or cleave. Single splice junction cleavage was not observed with single fragments. In vitro splicing of intein fragments under native conditions was achieved using mini exteins. Trans-splicing allows differential modification of defined regions of a protein prior to extein ligation, generating partially labeled proteins for NMR analysis or enabling the study of the effects of any type of protein modification on a limited region of a protein.
authors.affiliation: New England Biolabs, Beverly, MA 01915, USA.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Southworth
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Panne
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Byer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kautz
authors.forename: F B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Perler
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D058619:Maltose-Binding Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000235:genetics; D019154:Protein Splicing / Q000235:genetics; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D014335:Tropomyosin / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D058619:Maltose-Binding Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011498:Protein Precursors; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014335:Tropomyosin; C069816:phage shock protein, Bacteria; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes